Customer reactivation email setup services

How a reactivation project runs

1. 01

   Analyse

   Engagement across the list by last click and purchase.

   Output: Engagement report

2. 02

   Threshold

   Inactivity period and exclusions agreed.

   Output: Threshold

3. 03

   Build

   Re-engagement series and preferences page.

   Output: Flow

4. 04

   Policy

   What happens to non-responders.

   Output: Sunset policy

5. 05

   Run and report

   First run, then automatic.

   Output: Report

The engagement analysis

The service should group subscribers by when they last clicked and last bought: within three months, three to six, six to twelve, over a year, never. It should note how many joined recently and how many buy without clicking. This shows how large the inactive group is and helps set a threshold that catches genuine inactivity without sweeping up customers who simply buy in store or by phone.

Illustrative engagement groups

A working preferences page

The re-engagement series is only as good as the choices it offers. The service should build or check a preferences page where subscribers can choose all emails, fewer emails or particular topics, and make sure those choices are respected in every send. A preferences page that saves choices but is ignored by segments is worse than none.

The sunset policy

A short written policy says what counts as inactive, how many re-engagement emails are sent, what happens to those who do not respond and whether they are suppressed or occasionally mailed. It should also say how records are kept, since a suppressed contact's unsubscribe or preference must not be lost. Check the retention approach with your adviser.

Warning signs in a reactivation service

• Opens used as the only measure

  Tracking images distort them.

• Mass deletion

  Unsubscribe records lost.

• No exclusions

  New sign-ups and in-store buyers swept up.

• One-off clean-up only

  The list drifts again.

Example: reactivation for a wine merchant

What you should receive

The first-run report

After the first run, the service should report how many contacts entered, how many stayed, chose fewer emails, unsubscribed or did not respond, and how click and complaint rates changed on regular sends. This shows whether the threshold and series are working.

Briefing the service

Share your email platform, how often you send, whether in-store or phone sales are recorded against email contacts, any preferences page you already have and how you handle data retention.

Writing the re-engagement series

The service should write two or three short emails in your voice. The first asks plainly whether the subscriber still wants your emails, with a single button to stay. The second offers choices through the preferences page. The last explains what will happen if there is no response. Subject lines should be clear rather than clever, so the purpose is obvious from the inbox. You approve the wording, since it speaks for your business to people who have drifted away.

Running automatically

After the first run, the flow should trigger whenever a subscriber reaches the threshold, so the list stays healthy without repeated clean-ups. The service should test the trigger and document how to pause or adjust it.